Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Coming back to what I said earlier regarding the Ballincollig centre, I just got a message saying that there was a reply to me from the Minister yesterday that just arrived this morning. It indicates that the funding will be provided for the equipment and that the unit should be fully operational by the end of the year. That is on paper at this stage, so I am just hoping that is what will happen.

On cataract operations and theatres that are used exclusively for cataract operations, in a full day of, say, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., what kind of numbers can be put through? I know it will vary from consultant to consultant. I am just asking generally. What can numbers can be put through in a full day? Obviously, there would be have to be a full theatre staff and a full back-up support staff as well.